Family seeks answers in disappearance of SoCal man headed to 'Murder Mountain;' Private investigator: His truck was found in Garberville area

Private detectives investigating the disappearance of a Southern California man -- who went missing after reportedly heading to work at a marijuana grow near what he called "Murder Mountain" -- said this week that his pickup truck was found broken down on private property in southern Humboldt.

No one has heard from Rodriguez since Christmas time, officials and private investigators said. He was last heard from while en route from his home in the San Diego enclave of Ocean Beach to the mountains of southern Humboldt, where he was reportedly going to work at a marijuana ranch.

Rodriguez's father, who lives in central Mexico, said he believes some of his son's friends must know something.

"I believe that some of them know what happened to him, but they're afraid to come forward and say anything," Val "Buzz" Rodriguez said. "I know that for a fact."

His mother, who lives in Georgia, said she knows her son was going to work at an indoor grow in the Rancho Sequoia area near Alderpoint for the winter. She questions why the two people her son worked with have been silent about the case.

"It's important for people to know who he was working with," said Pamela McGinnis, who believes the two business associates were the last to be with her son.

Sheriff's Office Detective Todd Fulton said the names of the two men Rodriguez worked with are not being released at this time.

"We don't have any reason to release the names of his associates," he said. "As far as I know, his last known location was in San Diego."

Fulton said the office is investigating Rodriguez's disappearance as a missing person's case, but it is unclear if Rodriguez was in the county.

Cook & Associates investigator Jeremy Yanopoulos said Rodriguez had been involved with growing marijuana since high school, and had also been working with marijuana trafficking and sales between Humboldt County and San Diego for a couple years.

"He wasn't the top guy," Yanopoulos said. "It doesn't sound like it was paying particularly well."

McGinnis said her son never seemed to make much money in the marijuana business.

"I know a lot of young guys go up to Humboldt to try and make a lot of money. His goal was to save money, but there was always some reason why he didn't have any," she said.

His family said Rodriguez was in the marijuana business to save enough money to eventually fulfill his dream of having a home in Mexico.

"It was just the allure of money that got him involved, so he could build his home in Mexico," McGinnis said.

Rodriguez's family said he loved water sports, fishing and cooking -- mostly with fish and anything wrapped in bacon -- and he made a mean ahi poke sushi roll.

"He also had a famous crab dip that I know his friends liked. He'd cook anything, but he loved being in the ocean, so he always had tons of lobsters and fish on hand," McGinnis said.

His family said he won trophies for fishing and was once offered a full scholarship to a culinary school and apprenticeship program at a five-star restaurant in Colorado after he went through chef training in San Diego. Rodriguez turned down the opportunity because he did not want to leave his friends in California, family members said.

His aunt Bonnie Taylor, who lives in the Chico area, said she was the last family member to see him before he went missing. She said Rodriguez's friends were his family.

"He was sweet, loving, caring and good-hearted. He had a love of life," she said. "This guy wasn't somebody who just goes missing."

Rodriguez is described as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, with brown hair.

"He has the most gorgeous green eyes and a beautiful smile," Taylor said.

Rodriguez also has a tattoo of a colored ocean scene on his right shoulder.

"He actually knew how to swim before he was walking," McGinnis said. "I never thought he would leave the ocean."

Taylor said the family tried to talk Rodriguez out of going to Humboldt County for work.

"We tried as best we could. He didn't always make really good choices," she said. "Choice of certain friends. Choice of going up to Humboldt."

McGinnis said there have been hundreds of friends posting photos and memories of her son on a Facebook page dedicated to bringing him home, saying how much they miss him. "Everybody's really concerned," she said.

Yanopoulos said Cook & Associates is investigating rumors about what has happened to Rodriguez and speculation on why he disappeared.

It was not until April that Rodriguez was officially reported missing. Yanopoulos said it was not uncommon for friends and family members to go short periods of time without hearing from Rodriguez while he was working in southern Humboldt.

"But this went way beyond just business as usual," he said.

His father reported him missing on April 25 after one of his son's ex-girlfriends told him no one had heard from Rodriguez in months.

Taylor said the family knows in their hearts that Rodriguez made it to southern Humboldt and would have contacted them if he could. "There's no way Garret could be alive," she said. "He was a really sweet kid. I call him a kid; he was a man. But to me, he was a kid."

McGinnis said some people might look at her son's case and think, "Oh look, just more druggies."

"But he had a lot of people who loved him and thought the world of him," she said.

Anyone with information regarding Garret Rodriguez is asked to contact Cook & Associates Private Investigations at 839-7422 or call Chris Cook at 616-4507. You may also contact the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 445-7251.